The year 2006 for the Peret family For those of you who have not been able to follow the Peret family on a day to day basis, you can catch up via our 2006 family story. This year has been particularly exiting and eventful for the whole family with the arrival of Lars amongst us, as well as our move around the earth from New Zealand to Scotland , but let’s start with the beginning… In January, Sanne was firmly settling in her new “career” as a busy mum taking care of Tui and Olse, while nurturing baby Olse in her tummy. Tui started her swimming lessons and liked it straight away which was a great relief as she had been apprehensive of water since she capsized with her dad from a large surfboard at the age of 14 months…she decided then that she didn’t like the taste of the salty water in her mouth… Olse started to develop his own rather strong personality which resulted in many fights and cries between our 2 little angels. Jean-Christophe was busy in his job transferring assets from one Company to an other one and was learning how to relate to very senior people. In February we took some time off as a family and went to Abel Tasman, Nelson Lake and the Malborough Sounds. Life is a circle and this trip brought us back to our first 6 months in New Zealand where we made a similar journey…but this time we had a pram, a foldable bed and many more bags…In Abel Tasman and Nelson Lakes we managed to do some gentle hikes and swimming with the kids and learnt all about the wasp infested forests and the honeydew. We spent the last week of our holidays in a marvellous house in the Malborough Sounds, with a spectacular view on the sounds, walking along the same Queen Charlotte track as we had cycled many years before.

In March, we went walking around the mountain and were quite impressed with Tui in how she managed the numerous steps and the wild vegetation of the rain forest. JC had almost delivered his project and was wondering about what he would do next. The

decision of applying for a job on MOR with Shell was made.

In April, we took our old lady, the Toyota Ace Van and headed North to visit the last part of the country we didn’t really know: Northland. We liked it very much there, helped by the favourable weather. We headed via Taupiri Bay to Cape Reinga, where we were blessed with wind and playful clouds which turned the place into a wild and remote location. We drove South again along the west coast and stayed in a Maori community in beautiful Mitimiti. Then back to Auckland where we discovered some fine beaches just west of Auckland, but it was nowhere as tranquil and peaceful as Mitimiti.

In May, we were talking more and more about potential next postings, dreaming about exotic locations with their plus and minuses. We were a few weeks from the official MOR process. In June, towards the end of the month, in the middle of the night, Sanne went into labour and our son Lars was born in a record time (compared to Olse and Tui). Soon we adjusted to the new rhythm with Lars, enjoying the company of our new son and brother. In July, we looked at Lars gaining weight and appetite, celebrated the 2 years of Olse and gave Sanne as much rest as possible. Jean-Christophe had also made job applications and considered different locations such as Miri, the Netherlands and Norway. At the end he decided to only apply for a commercial position in Norway. In August, Jean-Christophe got the position he had applied for but was not going to be posted in Norway but Aberdeen. After an initial disappointment, we considered the plus and minuses and felt happy with the outcome. We spent the month preparing for the move, visiting places and people we would not see for a while and tried to make the best of our last few weeks in New Zealand. Before leaving we celebrated the 4th birthday of Tui. Then it was time to move out of the house and country where our three children were born.

In September, we visited Malaysia (Langkawi) on our way back to Europe. We had pleasant weather, we managed to do some walks, rode on elephants and fed the monkeys…the kids loved it and we had with Sanne 2nd thoughts of moving to Scotland. In Europe we caught up with family and friends in the Netherlands and France. By mid-September we were in Aberdeen, staying in a tiny 2 bedroom hotel in the city

center…clearly not an ideal location for a family of 5. We started our house hunting and introduced the children to their new country. Work for JC was great. In October, we explored Aberdeenshire and enjoyed very much the scenery. The Autumn colours were beautiful and very different from New Zealand. We continued our house hunting and finally (after 3 hotels and 1 temporary house) found a place to live. In November, we enjoyed the company of family, who are now able to visit us without the need of an around-the-world ticket! We moved into our new house toward the end of the month and spend our time packing and unpacking the 145 boxes we have taken with us from New Zealand. In December we had friends visiting us from Ireland and we enjoyed Christmas time in winter instead of summer. However freezing your hands while scraping of the ice from the windows of your car, was a sensation we had forgotten about… We wish you all a happy Christmas and a beautiful 2007. For more 2006 pictures, please click here